The English language learning market raked $8.86 billion in 2019. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the industry, which resulted in revenue losses of up to 60% for the industry, the English language learning market is still expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.9% to reach $49.93 billion by 2027.
The industry for English-speaking services has an even brighter future in South Korea where an increasingly high number of people are looking to learn the language but don’t find enough time to enroll themselves in a full-time course. Therefore, with the right strategy, companies offering English-speaking services can find a solid foothold in the South Korean market, just like these three English-speaking services managed to do with their impressive Instagram campaigns.
1. Speak
Speak is a subscription-based app built by Speakeasy Labs that helps people improve their English-language speaking skills by allowing them to interact with an AI-powered speech recognition system that simulates real conversations.
Their Objective
The English-language app sought to increase its number of recurring subscribers by running a campaign that would attract people who were more likely to subscribe to its services.
Approach & Solution
Speak teamed up with Facebook to run a mix of mobile app install ads for reaching out to people who were looking to enhance their English-speaking skills. The company partnered with Korean illustrators who had an active presence on Instagram to produce dynamic and engaging illustrations that promoted Speak’s subscription services during the end of 2020.
Speak also ran Automated App Ads for a “start trial” event. These ads used machine learning to pick the best-performing creative and deliver it to the most relevant audience over the age of 18 living in South Korea.
Moreover, to gauge the campaign’s efficiency in driving recurring subscriptions, Speak joined hands with Facebook to conduct a managed conversion lift study. Speak used the Facebook software development kit (SDK) to keep track of app installs and Facebook helped the company include “recurring subscription” as a tracked offline event.
The Result
The Instagram campaign was quite successful for Speak and led to a 49% boost in recurring subscriptions. Also, the language company saw a 2.4x lift in first-time subscribers and a 2.8x increase in the “start trial” event.
2. Yanadoo
Yanadoo is a leading online English education business in Korea that provides 10-minute classes and one-on-one mentoring to help students enhance their English language skills.
Their Objective
The language-learning company sought to reach people who wanted to learn the English language and drive its online sales with an easy and cost-effective campaign.
Approach & Solution
Yanadoo teamed up with four influencers for its branded content ad campaign, featuring the message “Only 10 minutes a day”. The campaign made use of the company’s usual mix of carousel and link ads, along with added branded content, which would allow Yanadoo to compare their performance. The images showcased the influencers studying English via Yanadoo’s online platform and each influencer wrote about the benefits of the school’s courses.
Yanadoo’s expanded its audience to include a wider range than usual. It also used interest targeting to reach out to even more people who were more likely to be interested in what Yanadoo had to offer. Yanadoo’s campaign ran on Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network, using automatic placements and budget optimization to maximize the use of its budget.
The Result
The campaign was a massive success for Yanadoo. It resulted in a 20% decrease in cost per purchase and a 24% reduction in cost per level test competition. Also, Yanadoo saw a 35% boost in click-to-purchase rate and a 1.55% boost in CTR.
3. Uphone
Uphone is a leading English-learning South Korean app that offers a four-step learning program, including one-on-one English conversations with foreign teachers, reading and writing exercises, and much more.
Their Objective
Uphone wanted to reach out to more potential users, especially office goers and university students who would be more interested in learning the English language.
Approach & Solution
Uphone ran a campaign using video ads in Instagram Stories to reach its target audience. The campaign used an existing TV commercial and recut it into shorter video ads for mobile-friendly viewing on Instagram Stories.
Uphone split the ad vertically to display a part of the commercial on top, while the other part of the commercial highlighted the benefits of the app below. The video was created in collaboration with Facebook’s MobileWorks program, which assisted in adapting creative using Facebook’s mobile-first principles.
Also, the campaign used automatic placements to deliver the video ad. The video ad directed users to Uphone’s website where they could get more information. The language-learning app also created a Custom Audience based on people who had viewed its ads.
The Result
Uphone’s Instagram campaign that ran for 34 days resulted in a 9.4% lower cost per mile compared to ads with an original TV commercial. While there was a 1.2x increase in the 3-second view-through rate, there was a 20x lift in CTR.
So, What’s Your Instagram Strategy?
Instagram’s visual nature gives it the upper hand over other marketing channels. It can, therefore, work wonders for businesses with a visibly noticeable result. However, the platform’s growing popularity makes it imperative for brands to come up with extraordinary campaign strategies to attract users.
Have you planned yours yet?